Does Adorama suck or did I just draw a bad hand?

While i would agree that "open box" items can be a gamble, with a company like Adorama, I cant see any real problem in getting any issues sorted.

I have never seen any ongoing issues with Adorama.

Dennis_Hammer wrote in post #9191550
Hey I have never bought from Adorama but seeing the post thats three up from here makes think I may need to start doing comparison shopping. Imagine complaining about a product on a message board and someone from the store responds in the thread. And wants to fix it or at the very least investigate the problem for you. Nice Job!

Shes a regular "lurker" here and steps in often when she sees dissatisfied Adorama customers. I wish more vendors did that - Like CANON?

WaltA wrote in post #9195227
Shes a regular "lurker" here and steps in often when she sees dissatisfied Adorama customers. I wish more vendors did that - Like CANON?

Canon is not really a vendor and they do have a 1-800 number for service and support.

Why is Canon not a vendor? I can buy things from them. And they repair things.

Besides, my comment was about being "proactive". I'm sure Adorama has a support number as well. But having a Customer Service rep that "hangs out" in the forums - maybe its just me but I think thats pretty cool.

WaltA wrote in post #9195880
Why is Canon not a vendor? I can buy things from them. And they repair things.

Besides, my comment was about being "proactive". I'm sure Adorama has a support number as well. But having a Customer Service rep that "hangs out" in the forums - maybe its just me but I think thats pretty cool.

If they were actually "proactive" about providing CS, it wouldn't come down to someone having to post in a photography forum to get help. I admit, it didn't sound like the OP even tried to contact them, but I've been seeing a lot more complaints against this particular vendor, with a lot more effort on the customer's side, yet no results until they post something here.

I like Adorama.
Been using them for years.

nicksan wrote in post #9196529
If they were actually "proactive" about providing CS, it wouldn't come down to someone having to post in a photography forum to get help. I admit, it didn't sound like the OP even tried to contact them, but I've been seeing a lot more complaints against this particular vendor, with a lot more effort on the customer's side, yet no results until they post something here.

True enough - maybe pro-active wasn't the right word to use. But you know how many people won't complain about a bad meal but will just tell all their friends about how bad it was? The same is true in any industry.

So, having someone respond to postings here is good advertising for them as well as possibly responding to customer with a bad experience who may not have complained officially to them.

I haven't been tracking complaints against this vendor so I can't comment on that. Most of the postings I've seen on here about them have been positive.

...and there are always two sides to every story. The OP admits that he bought an "open box" item to save just a few dollars over what a new item would have cost. Don't know if he even asked what was included, since he assumed (in his words) that Adorama would take care of that for him. Its like anything else...know what you're buying, and if you're not sure, ask. I'm sure that Adorama will square things up with him, but going public to excoriate a reputable dealer that may have made a human error (without malice) and without giving them the chance to correct is pretty lame. I'm sure that it'll work out in the end.

Message from Helen, Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

nicksan wrote in post #9196529
If they were actually "proactive" about providing CS, it wouldn't come down to someone having to post in a photography forum to get help. I admit, it didn't sound like the OP even tried to contact them, but I've been seeing a lot more complaints against this particular vendor, with a lot more effort on the customer's side, yet no results until they post something here.

10 days 'til Christmas, and the CS teams are working flat out. No excuses, but to give you an idea: we sold 11,000 pieces of a single item weekend before last.......multiply that across the 750,000 (approx) items on our website!

Taking on additional staff to cope with the seasonal rush isn't the answer as untrained staff are likely to make more errors, that take longer to sort out.
It is highly unlikely that we are not going to mess up on a few orders, however, we are also doing our best to put things right with minimal delay; your patience and understanding at this time is really very much appreciated.

ive had no problems ordering from them a couple times...

dang... Helen is posting at 5am...... what the heck!!

Message from Helen at Adorama Camera

Andrushka wrote in post #9200683
ive had no problems ordering from them a couple times...

dang... Helen is posting at 5am...... what the heck!!

THAT'S how hard we're working to try & keep on top!

HelenOster wrote in post #9200687
THAT'S how hard we're working to try & keep on top!

is this the beginning of your morning or end of your night??

Andrushka wrote in post #9200722
is this the beginning of your morning or end of your night??

Doesn't matter, it's way too early or way too late

Back to the original post, yeah, more people should try and contact the merchant before posting online. I would say that most if not all will be happy to "make things right".

Grimes wrote in post #9200979
Doesn't matter, it's way too early or way too late

Back to the original post, yeah, more people should try and contact the merchant before posting online. I would say that most if not all will be happy to "make things right".

Agreed.

As HelenOster has intimated, the chance of getting through this period without a screwup or 2 is virtually non-existant.

I do wish the OP had gone back to Adorama first before his rant though.

Andrushka wrote in post #9200722
is this the beginning of your morning or end of your night??

Morning! Still fresh as a daisy...actually, I usually do a split day; it means our customers in Australia & Japan etc should get as good a chance of a quick response as our customers on EST.